Did you forget the rules? You do not speak unless your superior allows you to.
A manager to Jun-ho (disguised as a worker) and Jun-ho (disguised as a manager) to a soldier in "The Man with the Umbrella" and "Stick to the Team"
Managers (symbolized by a ☐), also known as Supervisors or Squares, were the ground leaders who act on behalf of the Front Man. They organize groups of guards in order to facilitate the effective running of the Squid Games.
Managers are armed more modestly than their subordinates: they carry a Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver, but in Friend or Foe some of them also carry Heckler & Koch MP5.
Role
Managers seen operating surveillance of the Games
Managers are responsible for organizing, monitoring, and (in some cases) enforcing the Games. That is done by giving orders to Soldiers, disciplining guards who step out of line, and making objective decisions on the spot.
Managers are permitted to speak more freely than other guards, allowing them to relay scheduled information to the players and act as ambassadors of the Squid Games. Despite this, they are the most enigmatic guards given their position of authority.
Managers also have access to every single player's information, including player number, name, age, brief history, reason of financial ruin and total debt. Having this capability, Managers can reveal notable players in order to maintain democracy, trust and avoid any rising suspicion throughout the games, ensuring that players understand why they chose to participate instead of suffering in the real world.
After each game, Managers can announce the final results accordingly, specifically the total number of eliminations, the accumulated prize money and the shared amount between each player (mentioned only in Season 2). This method encourages players to continue playing the games, as well as some serious concerns about the deaths of other players.
To ensure that the games were made democratic for players, Managers can allow a voting system to occur to help players determine whether they'd put an end to the games or proceed. This is a fair system to all players, which means that the Managers will not tolerate any sort of acts that can disrupt the procedure. While in Season 1, the voting system happened after Red Light, Green Light or whenever a player invoked clause 3 of the consent form, although this was only shown happening once. In Season 2, the voting system happened after each game has concluded. Additionally, it is said that the current prize pool would be distributed equally among all players if the game ending gets the most votes.
Known managers
- Manager (The Man with the Umbrella) †
- Manager (Friend or Foe) †
- Hwang Jun-ho (disguised; briefly)
- Park Yeong-gil † (formerly)
- The Recruiter † (promoted)
- Manager 004 †
Trivia
- All of the unmasked managers seem to be in their 20s, which is partially why they must presume confidentiality throughout the games.
- In the episode, The Man with the Umbrella, in Season 1, the Manager was forced to reveal himself in front of No Sang-hun (Player 119) after his umbrella shape on his honeycomb broke apart. After seeing his face, Sang-hun was aghast because of his age, and as such, committed the unthinkable. When the Front Man entered the area, he shot the Manager dead, assuring everyone to never reveal themselves.
- In the episode, Friend or Foe, in Season 2, the Manager was cornered by the armed players after Seong Gi-hun and his allies ambushed the soldiers. When he was forced to remove his mask, Park Jung-bae was shocked to know that the Manager was a kid. Gi-hun ordered him to send the revolt team to the control room and offered him his mask to get through security. However, the second he saw Hwang In-ho, he was immediately shot by the soldiers.
- When the Managers revealed the identity of the first person that genuinely couldn't trust them, they disclose every specific information about them, whereas the next notable players were only mentioned by their player number, name and total debt.
- Throughout the series, the first person that a manager introduces was a specific link that the player would become one of the finalists in the final game, as well as the final player who Gi-hun would face.
- In Season 1, the Manager reveals Cho Sang-woo's full information and he was placed as a finalist along with Seong Gi-hun and Kang Sae-byeok. He becomes the first person Gi-hun fights against.
- In Season 2, the Manager reveals Lee Myung-gi's full information, which meant that in Season 3, he becomes one of the eight finalists to proceed to the final game, along with Gi-hun, Park Min-su, Im Jeong-dae, Kim Gi-min, Lee Seung-won, Kim Yun-tae and Player 039. He becomes the very last person Gi-hun fights against.
- The other players that had their debt revealed were either chosen because of their initial conflict, sometimes because of distrust, on the guards, or because their names symbolize a foreshadowing of their fates in the series, therefore suggesting the roll calls weren't random.
- In Season 1, after Sang-woo's debt is revealed, the following players had their debts revealed, alongside the reasoning behind their revelation, either by initial conflict, or their foreshadowing fates.
- Kim Mi-ok (Player 107) - Initial conflict / distrust
- Oh Yeong-uk (Player 118) - Initial conflict / distrust
- No Sang-hun (Player 119) - Shoots himself after realizing the identity of one of the managers | Dalgona
- Jung Min-tae (Player 322) - Gets pushed by Mi-nyeo and then shoved by Deok-su | Glass Stepping Stones
- Park Ju-un (Player 369) - Gets shot in the head for breaking his honeycomb | Dalgona
- In Season 2, after Myung-gi's debt is revealed, the following players had their debts revealed, alongside the reasoning behind their revelation, either by initial conflict or their foreshadowing fates or both.
- Park Mi-hwa (Player 006) - Trusts Seon-nyeo (Player 044) and gets stabbed by Nam-gyu (Player 124) | Hide and Seek
- Im Jeong-dae (Player 100) - Survives through all the six games and is shoved by Myung-gi
- Cho Hyun-ju (Player 120) - Initial conflict / distrust
- Kang Mi-na (Player 196) - Gets shot in the head after moving, first player to be eliminated | Red Light, Green Light
- Jang Do-yeong (Player 198) - Fails to complete the second round, ultimately risking his team's life | Six-Legged Pentathlon
- Kim Yeong-sam (Player 226) - Becomes Jeong-dae's associate and is defeated by Hyun-ju | Hide and Seek
- Thanos/Choi Su-bong (Player 230) - Initial conflict
- Lee Eun-ju (Player 283) - Initial conflict / distrust
- Sim Jae-seok (Player 343) - Gets his neck snapped fatally by In-ho (Young-il - Player 001) | Mingle
- Kim Nam-du (Player 444) - Initial conflict / distrust and shot twice after moving and after Hyun-ju and Gi-hun helped | Red Light, Green Light
- In Season 1, after Sang-woo's debt is revealed, the following players had their debts revealed, alongside the reasoning behind their revelation, either by initial conflict, or their foreshadowing fates.
- Throughout the series, the first person that a manager introduces was a specific link that the player would become one of the finalists in the final game, as well as the final player who Gi-hun would face.